Dear students, AUF staff and other users of the premises managed by the UCT Administration of University Facilities,
 
I would like to ask you this way to maximise the economy of your behaviour with respect to energy consumption, i.e. namely in the upcoming summer period in terms of the use of electrical energy and hot water. 
Repeated and rapid spikes in the price of energies keep increasing the costs required to operate our facilities and we can expect the increase in energy prices to be permanent, not just temporary.
 
Apart from costly investments in money-saving measures (such as photovoltaics, cogeneration, complete reconstruction of air ventilation, central heat management, etc.), it is the observation and limiting of the energy consumption that minimises the everyday costs in a partial but fast and effective way.
 
I hereby ask the workers of the technical department to look into the usage of such resources in common areas such as lighting in the public spaces, setting of air-conditioning, etc. 
At the same time, I also ask all the residents to reassess the necessity of their computers being turned on nonstop, to turn off the lights when leaving the room as well as other appliances, to observe the amount of hot water spent, etc.
 
I thank to all of you in advance for responsible behaviour which should not be seen as a reaction to the current rise of energy bills only, but also as another attempt to permanently behave more and more ecologically and sustainably with respect to the long-term growing consumption of our natural resources (e.g. water, electricity, and gas).
 
 
Best regards,
Stanislav Starý
AUF director